


But why's your sword bent?

by Woldy



Category: Merlin (BBC) RPF
Genre: Banter, Flirting, Friendship, Innuendo, M/M, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-31
Updated: 2009-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-05 12:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woldy/pseuds/Woldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their last day of filming for Series 2 is all about the caricatures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But why's your sword bent?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://gealach-ros.livejournal.com/profile)[**gealach_ros**](http://gealach-ros.livejournal.com/) as part of the [](http://community.livejournal.com/danke_gealach/profile)[**danke_gealach**](http://community.livejournal.com/danke_gealach/) project and inspired by that fateful Secrets and Magic episode. Not beta-ed, I'm afraid, so I apologise for any mistakes.
> 
> All real people are used without their permission. Events portrayed are entirely fictional and do not reflect on the actual people within the stories. No profit is being made from this story &amp; no offence is intended.

The last day of filming is more or less chaos, so Bradley doesn't realise there's anything funny going on until he's herded into a room and introduced to Tom the caricaturist.

"Excellent," he says, remembering the way Colin sneaked off the set earlier. "Can I see the other pictures?"

"I haven't got them, mate. Everyone gets to keep their own."

"All right," Bradley says, and takes a seat. The folding chair isn't very comfortable, but Bradley does his best to sit still while the guy sketches.

"So are you drawing me or Prince Arthur?" he asks, and the caricaturist (how on earth you pronounce that he doesn't know) shoots him a look over the canvas.

"Is there a difference when I'm only doing your face?"

"Yeah, there's a lot of acting in the face! When I'm just me I look like this—" Bradley does a neutral expression, "— whereas Arthur looks like this," he adopts the posture and expression that Bradley thinks of a 'dutiful Prince'.

He'd like to think that there's a lot of subtlety and nuance to that facial expression, but it also involves a raised chin and squared shoulders. The interconnection of body language and status was one of the first things Bradley ever learned about acting, and it still comes in useful.

"Right," the caricaturist says, looking amused as he continues to scribble away.

A few minutes later, Tom turns the easel around to reveal a picture of Bradley with a high chin and broad grin, sword clutched in his hand.

The sword is bent, which is either a reference to the alleged gay subtext — which all right, yes, he might be encouraging a little with his talk of bromance — or Bradley's skills with a sword are being impugned.

"It's a good thing this is a portrait of me, because Arthur would be very offended at the suggestion he doesn't win his duels," Bradley tells the guy, and the caricaturist takes the picture off the easel and hands it to him.

"Enjoy."

"I will, thanks, this is great. Best of luck with the others — Angel is a real prima donna, you'll have to look out for her. She's always the troublemaker."

Tom the artist gives him the look which says he doesn't know whether Bradley is joking or just a touch insane. Bradley gets that look a lot.

"Cheers," he says again, nodding for emphasis, and heads back on set to look for Colin.

The day doesn't make any more sense from that point onwards, because half the crew are waving caricatures around while the other half have hidden theirs and are refusing to show anyone. By the time he locates Colin at lunchtime, Bradley has shown the picture to a dozen people and is trying to balance a drink and a plate without the canvas falling out from under his arm.

"I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours," he says, putting his stuff down on the table beside Colin.

Colin looks up and grins. "I've heard that before."

"I've read it on the internet," Angel calls from the next table, and Katie snorts with laughter. "Right before this scene where Merlin-"

"I had no idea you were so interested, Angel. Maybe I should send you the stuff I found on Google about you and Katie."

Katie claps her hands over her ears and says "Lalala, I can't hear you," which Bradley takes as an admission of defeat.

He turns back to Colin and sits down. Colin is forking pasta salad into his mouth, but Bradley can tell from his eyes that he's smiling.

"I mean it," he says, "show me."

"You first."

"You've got to show me yours, though. No weaselling out of it."

"They're both the same size, boys, there's no need to be nervous!" Angel calls out, and Katie dissolves into laughter again.

"Thank you Angel, for that meaningful commentary," Bradley deadpans, "I'm really going to miss you. We're both going to miss you, actually, on our road trip aren't we Colin?"

"Yeah," Colin says, sounding very serious, "It's not fair really that we get to investigate Merlin and Arthur while Morgana's character is being so neglected by the—"

Bradley is only distracted for a second by Colin's discourse on Morgana's character development, when Colin reaches around him and grabs the caricature. He holds it up with a flourish and looks at it critically.

"Very good," Colin pronounces, after a moment. "But why's your sword bent?"

Bradley hears a choking sound from behind him, which he presumes is Katie, or perhaps them both. He ignores them.

"There are a number of theories about that. Personally, I think it's because the character I play is such a talented and dedicated warrior," Bradley says, and Colin shoots him a crooked smile, the private one that still makes his stomach flip.

"Let's see yours," he insists, and Colin puts down Bradley's picture with a show of reluctance and produces his own from beneath the table.

The caricature of Colin is unmistakable: ears that stick out, prominent cheekbones, laughing eyes and Merlin's scarf tied around his neck. Bradley looks at it for a few seconds too long, remembering how soft Colin's skin feels beneath his fingers, before handing it back.

"Very nice," he says. "I notice that nothing on yours is bent."

"Maybe you should stop encouraging all the speculation in the press," Colin says, but Bradley can tell from the smile that he doesn't really mean it.

"We can't stop now," Bradley says, and takes a bite of his sandwich. He chews a few times and swallows before concluding, "We've got a road trip to go on, with weird activities in the dark."

Katie and Angel laugh again, and Colin says, "Now you're doing it deliberately."

"So are you going to stop me with your magic hands?"

"One of these days I might," Colin says, in a tone of voice that's so innocent it shouldn't be allowed.

Bradley's gaze dips down from Colin's face to his neck, where the edge of his collarbone is exposed beneath the scarf. _Road trip_, he tells himself,_ there's no need to do this on set._

"Promises, promises," he says, quiet enough that only Colin hears.

Colin looks straight ahead, chewing on a mouthful of pasta, before murmuring, "And what was that you said about showing me yours?"

Bradley's heart skips a beat, or possibly five. "Fine by me," he says, biting into his sandwich so that he has a moment to regain his composure. "The open road, a few hotels, we'll have a voyage of discovery. It's gonna be great."


End file.
